Radar sees ice deep below Mars

[eppur_se_muova]

Mars Express has become the first spacecraft to detect reserves of water ice deep beneath the surface of the Red Planet, experts have announced.

The Marsis radar experiment carried onboard appears to have discovered water ice more than 1km below ground.

***

Underground layered deposits at the planet's north pole have an upper unit thought to be dominated by water ice. This water ice is believed to be nearly pure, with only about 2% contamination by dust.

Beneath this ice layer is a lower unit containing sand cemented with water ice.

***
more at link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4479612.stm

[theHandpuppet]

1. I expect we could find some form of life similar to this?

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun00/mmbearp.html

[WritingIsMyReligion]

3. EEEW!

Sorry, but that just creeped me out. Reminds me of the things in Dan Brown's Deception Point. Love the book, but the critters give me the shivers.

:scared:

[theHandpuppet]

4. More on the amazing water bear

All I can say is, life persists. To assume that no form of life could survive the harsh climes of Mars, one has only to look at some of the amazing forms of life on our own planet!

Excerpt from http://www.museums.org.za/bio/tardigrades/

Ability to Resist Environmental Extremes

While in a state of cryptobiosis tardigrades are able to resist environmental extremes that would be instantly lethal to animals if in the active state. In 1842, the French naturalist Doyere first discovered tardigrades were able to withstand being heated for a few minutes to 125 °C, later Rham in 1929 increased this figure to 150°C. Adults have been able to survive being cooled to temperatures of almost absolute zero (-272.8°C) where there is no free molecular vibration and so no metabolism can exist. While in this state the organisms are also greatly resistant to X-Rays of 570,000 Roentgens (only 500 Roentgens would be fatal to a human). Water bears are also resistant to a vacuum (like outer space), some noxious chemicals, boiling alcohol, and pressures six time greater than the bottom of the deepest ocean etc.

[Loonman]

2. I tell ya

There was life on Mars before the core cooled and solidified and the atmosphere wisped away when the magnetic field vanished. Cosmic rays and lessened atmospheric pressure finished the job.

[jsamuel]

5. Is it possible that a large enough asteroid could dislodge the atmosphere

from the planet. When I think about it, I could see that all of the light weight particles in the air could be easily thrown out into space if the planet was jared hard enough.